


The Lonely Hearts in Train Graveyard

by Ghel23



Category: Clerith - Fandom, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27895093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghel23/pseuds/Ghel23
Summary: After Aerith was captured by Eligor in the Train Graveyard, Cloud must find her before she gets lost forever.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	The Lonely Hearts in Train Graveyard

**Author's Note:**

> Heya. I just wanted to share a quick one-shot version to fill in the events before the end of chapter 10 (i think).
> 
> Angwy Cloud is hot Cloud. fight me! jk please don't fight.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys like it and feel free to let me know what you think!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story and am merely sharing my fic-headcannon on what may've happened in between the game events when Aerith was taken and when Cloud found her. Also, There's no intent in this story to "bash" Tifa. I think I portrayed her thoughts and feelings close to her in-game character. If you don't agree with it, it's okay.

“CLOUD!”

“AERITH!” screamed Cloud as he jumped to grab the hands of a peculiar flower lady who has now vanished into thin air. The ghosts of the train graveyard have captured her, and he only missed it in just mere seconds. He always regarded his Soldier senses to be wary of incoming attacks before it happens. Sure, he was too distracted by the fact that they may not make it in time to stop the pending doom of Sector 7. Damn that scum Corneo, he thought to himself. Damn that Shinra Electric Company. Damn that stupid ghosts who dared taking Aerith away from him. Cloud was feeling hotness and anger all over his body that would send those ghosts into the void when he killed it again.

“Cloud…” softly spoken by Tifa. She noticed how intense and agitated Cloud looked and it was starting to scare her more than the tales of train graveyard ever did. “Aerith…”  
“I’ll find her. You go on ahead to sector 7”, Cloud cut her off harshly. He didn’t mean to snap at her but the loss of Aerith was getting to his nerves – a little too much to his liking.

“But people who get lost here are lost forever” she replied.

“Not if I can help it.”

There’s no changing his mind. Sector 7 be damned, he needed to find Aerith in this labyrinth. “I’m her bodyguard”, he determinedly told himself. He had no time to lose. He had to get going. “It’s okay, Tifa. When I find her, we’ll go straight to sector 7 to help.”

Tifa felt uneasy with leaving Cloud to himself to look for Aerith. She’s grateful for Aerith coming to her rescue in Corneo’s mansion several hours ago but she didn’t ask her to do any of it. She wanted to find the new friend but she’s more worried about her second home. Marlene. Marle. Barret. Avalanche. She’s also worried about Cloud. What if he gets lost too and can’t make his way out?

“You okay?” Cloud broke her stupor.

“Yes”, she lied. “It’s better if we look for Aerith together.”

Cloud briefly considered the bartender-slash-Avalanche’s suggestion. “Okay”, he said. Before Tifa could respond, he added, “I’ll go this way, you go that way. It’s better if we split up to cover more grounds in short amount of time. You can handle yourself, right?”

Tifa reluctantly agreed to Cloud’s plan to go their separate ways. It made sense to her but at the same time it defeated her purpose to keep him from getting lost in the maze. Before she knew it, Cloud already made his way to look for Aerith and left her by her lonesome without another word.

**

The mercenary-turned-bodyguard had been running in circles in the good half hour looking for signs of where Aerith might be held or trapped. He couldn’t help but reminisce their past adventures in the past twenty-four hours or so. Their escape from one red-headed Turk; him catching her from that roof and noticing for the first time how sweet she smelled; him meeting his mother and being invited for dinner. He never had dinner together with anyone as far as he could remember – much less someone he just met. He even had a great sleep and dreamt of his mother not too long ago. His life surely had been brighter since the day he fell on Aerith’s church. On the other hand, Elmyra didn’t seem to approve of him for her daughter because he was Soldier albeit defected. He would ask Aerith next time how to win Elmyra over for his sake.  
Cloud stopped his tracks when he heard giggles. It sounded like children’s laughter. Then he remembered Aerith’s words, they were just pranking and being playful since they entered the train graveyard. Like kids. Trusting his instinct, he ran towards the sound of growing laughter.

He felt he’s getting closer until it suddenly became still and quiet. Why did they stop? Had he scared them away? “Shit”, he cursed. He was so focused on finding Aerith, he didn’t even try to conceal his presence. Where would he go next? Is he lost too? Would he still see Aerith’s smile?

“Aerith’s smile”, he thought. The memory of seeing her walking on the red-carpeted bridge, courtesy of Johnny, instantly came to his mind. He had never seen such beauty in his entire life. Her hair ran long like vines twirling along the walls; clouds pale in comparison to her soft and luscious skin; her lips were so red and plump that it tasted like sweet cherries; lastly, her eyes were enrapturing and glowing like a pair of emeralds that could make the Planet bend to her will. He knew then that Aerith was so much more than a friend to him. He would do everything to see her smile again.

*Sniff*

Distracted by that faint sound, he turned to its direction. He slowly walked towards it and recognised it as sound of someone crying. It reminded him of childhood. Him crying in his bedroom when no one wants to play with him or be his friend. As he came closer to the source, he heard echoes of cogs turning behind him. The noise was growing louder quickly. He turned to look before he started to sprint away.

Not now, he thought. There’s a monster chasing him and he still needed to find Aerith. Just when he thought he had no choice but to fight, he glimpsed a pink mirage from a distance.

“Aertih!” he called loudly. The figure of the flower lady in pink crouched on the ground slowly lowered her hands from her face and rose her head to look in his direction. Was she crying?

“Cloud!” Aerith yelped as Cloud swiftly grabbed and lifted her to stand up to ran away from the malevolent creature behind them.

A powerful wave of attack forcefully pushed the couple on the ground. Cloud sat up and scanned Aerith. He noticed few things immediately – one, she smelled of flowers; two, no bruises nor cuts; three, her eyes were puffy. He glared at the centaur-like creature on a chariot and stood up to face it. Time to send this a-hole to the next afterlife, he strongly affirmed in his mind.


End file.
